My dad used to have some succinct sayings to get his points across, as in, “ain’t got the brains God gave a goose.” This pronouncement, often hurled at politicians, portrayed a questionable bias directed toward a certain variety of bird-brained intelligence. As I heard it, I felt a sympathy toward all geese. And another, […]
Continue Reading
I have some dear friends, whom I love very much even though they run. I mean really run. On purpose. Because they like it. They have a few years up on me, yet they are forever completing some big mileage run. They do this with smiles on their faces. And they look good. And they […]
Continue Reading
The words stop me when I come across them, … “the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people…” They make me pause and close my eyes. I relate so well to such a paradox of emotions. I understand joy dwelling with heartbreak […]
Continue Reading
His big round eyes followed me. His little face filled with confusion, fear, and betrayal. I read his silent plea as if the words had been spoken, “Don’t leave me.” As I turned from the classroom, I remembered my son’s first baby vaccination, when those trusting eyes looked at me, startled, hurting, and as if […]
Continue Reading
Oh tomato plant that towers many feet above my head. Where is your fruit? I grew up on a farm in Kansas, and at the risk of embarrassing all my Kansas friends and relatives who put into canning jars what they can’t eat or give away, I couldn’t grow a bean or kernel of corn […]
Continue Reading
My eyes had been glued for a while to the little boy in the row ahead of me. He must have been about a year old. Fussy on his mother’s lap, I could see the parental exchange. “Should I take him out?” she mouthed to her husband. The church was packed that morning, with few […]
Continue Reading
“Gotta be thick-skinned to survive ministry,” advised a pastor to my young husband. “I’d never have continued if I’d let every criticism get under my skin.” As a pastor’s wife and mother, I found criticism and church-goer barbs dug deep when slung my way. They seemed to hurt even more if they were hurled at […]
Continue Reading
Our church has started a meet and greet time during the service as many churches do. It is one of those things which make introverts run for the bathroom. Although it is a good practice for the body of the church, it’s a little uncomfortable for people-avoiders in attendance. Announced last Sunday, it came […]
Continue Reading
The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will. Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart. (Proverbs 21:1 ESV) My husband and I spent nearly twenty-five years overseas. And we can attest to the fact that the USA […]
Continue Reading
My husband is a fan of split screens and simulcasts. The more the merrier. One corner of the TV can play a football game, while the opposite corner shows something completely different. The bottom half of the screen competes with baseball and men in suits. It kinda drives me crazy. It’s too much happening at […]
Continue Reading